Since forming in 1996, Martyn Leaper and the Minders have morphed from Elephant 6 darlings to twee-pop anarchists, throwing love bombs and denouncing nothing. Most non-fans remember the Minders’ auspicious 1998 debut, Hooray For Tuesday, and its unfairly derided follow-up, 2001’s Golden Street, but the band was active until 2006’s slight-but-lovely It’s A Bright Guilty World. The Minders’ only interim release has been the second web-only iteration of their odds-and-sods Cul-De-Sacs And Dead Ends. In the gap, Leaper wrote and demoed new songs when he could crowbar it into his 40-hour work week. Along with renowned producer Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney), Leaper began finding the thread of Into The River, the first actual Minders studio work in a decade. Leaper will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Minders feature.
Leaper: In 1976, my family and I traveled to Kenya to visit my grandfather who had been living near Nairobi since the 1950s. My mother grew up in East Africa, and it had been nearly 10 years since she had returned to the country to see her father. What I experienced during my visit remained with me my whole life, and even though I was only eight years old, I still recall the sights the smells and especially the sounds of Kenya.
One of the most distinctive musical exports from Kenya has to be Benga, which is a highly syncopated melodic music that had its start in East Africa during the 1950s. One of the best examples of Benga can be heard on the compilation: The King Of History: Classic 1970s Benga Beats From Kenya. This collection is music by Daniel Misani, who is considered the grandfather of Benga. Misani, a Tanzanian, was loved by Kenyans and Tanzanians alike for his political commentary. His criticism of the government landed him in jail several times during his life. In Kenya, he is affectionately known as the King of History.
